Tag Archives: dehydrate

They say the secrets in the sauce, which is true. But the magic is in the marinade. The trick to making raw foods that really knock the socks off of skeptics and lovers alike is dialing in a boot shootin marinade. Good news kids, most marinades are raw and vegan already. The basic ingredients are an acid, an oil, a sweetener, salt and spices. Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or citrus juice is your acid. You can choose from any number of organic cold pressed oils. Use agave, palm sugar or yacon syrup if your hardcore raw vegan. And if you’re not so strict use raw honey or maple syrup for sweeteners. Use a healthy sun dried sea salt or Himalayan salt. Spices… take your pick of chemical free options.

The recipe below is a BBQ style sauce/marinade which I used to marinade eggplant and crimini mushrooms. I marinaded these guys over night and then warmed up the mixture in the dehydrator for a couple hours. The results were delicious fabulous goodness.

This recipe is featured in my soon to be released recipe book entitled “The Live Food Experience”. Subscribe to my blog and be the first kid on your block to have your very own “Live Food Experience”.

Sprouted buckwheat is a really magical food. Most people know buckwheat in terms of buckwheat pancakes but sprouted buckwheat ain’t the same thing. Buckwheat isn’t even a grain like the name “wheat” might imply. It’s a “achene” which is a technical term you can investigate. For simplicity sake let’s just call it a seed that is unrelated to wheat therefore having no gluten. Buckwheat flour used for baking and raw buckwheat groats are unsprouted and contain enzyme inhibitors which need to cooked or sprouted to deactivate. Newbie rawfooders may initially have a bad experience working with buckwheat if they don’t sprout it. Buckwheat needs to be thoroughly rinsed, soaked and sprouted. Check out this post regarding sprouting buckwheat.

Once you have sprouted the buckwheat you have a very versatile ingredient for food prep. Don’t be shy when sprouting buckwheat. The sprouted groats can be dehydrated and stored for later use in recipes.

sprouted buckwheat

Buckwheat can have a dominant flavor and texture if not used in the right proportions. When I use it in granola I typically add 3 times the amount of nuts or seeds to buckwheat in the recipe. You’ll know if you have too much buckwheat in a recipe because it will taste bland and have a chalky feel in the mouth.

Buckwheat is a warming food which makes it a great breakfast option during cold months. It is high in calcium and also a great source of rutin which helps to strengthen capillaries. If you bruise easily or are wanting to rid yourself of varicose veins, add buckwheat to your diet.

Here’s a quick and easy buckwheat recipe. I used apple for this version but banana or pear can easily be substituted. I added hemp oil to give the porridge the satisfying effect when fats are added to a recipe. You can add a thick nut or seed mylk instead or a nut butter. Have fun with the recipe and adapt it to your liking.

Sprouted Buckwheat Apple Porridge

¼ C sprouted buckwheat

3 T shredded coconut

1 apple – cut up

2 T gojis or raisins – mix in at end

1 T maple syrup, honey or agave

1 T sweet cinnamon or 1 t cinnamon

1 T mesquite

1 T hemp oil

1 t maca

pinch of Himalayan salt

Combine in all ingredients except for raisins/gojis in food processor.

Sequels are rarely better than the original but this may be an exception to the rule… well at least this video is shorter. I actually get my roll on. I ended up making a ridiculous amount of filling for these nori sticks. I rolled for about an hour and had only gone through a third of the mix. I recorded this towards the end once I had figured out this advanced rolling technique. If you’re going to roll nori sticks, invite some friends over and make a party of it. No sense in rolling alone. I’ll post my recipe for goji beer and then you got no excuses not to Rawk and Roll.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the kitchen, I’ve done and gone it again… ? Yes, I’ve been huffing rejuvalac. Not really. I made some tasty ginger almond nori roll ups last week and now the video is edited and ready for viewing.

The recipe I made on the video was a double batch which is a cruel thing to do to yourself if you’re on your own when it comes time to roll. My prayers weren’t answered and a bunch of escaped Cuban cigar rollers did not show up to help out. And none of the high school kids in the neighborhood were willing to roll up what I had to offer… Below is a half version of the recipe on made on camera.

Happy rolling and Keep It Live!

Nori Almond Sticks

1 C almond (soaked)

1/2 C sunflower seed (soaked)

1/4 pumpkin seeds

1/4 C sts water

1 T ACV

1 t turmeric

¼ t ground black pepper

2 T ground chia seed

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 pinch cayenne

10 Nori sheets – cut in half across the grain

2 T lemon juice (to moisten nori)

Process the above ingredients into a thick paste. Spread a bead of paste on the cut nori sheets and roll. Moisten the edge of the nori and seal it. Dehydrate at 125 for 3 hours then lower to 115 and continue dehydrating until completely dry. 10-12 hours. Nori sticks can be cut in half after dehydrating.

Green Funions are this years black but they’re also cheap and habit forming so they could be this years crack. About twice a month I turn my2 room beach shack into a green funion lab. The procedure for making them is relatively painless if you don’t mind crying your eyes out and keep your fingers clear of the V slicer blade. The crying can be minimized by opening some windows and running the fan but you’re on your own with the slicing skills.

Prepped for Slicing

What are green funions you ask? They’re an addictive dehydrated snack… basically breaded onions. The breading is a combo of ground nuts/seeds, nutritional yeast, mesquite, spirulina and salt. Green funions get there signature green color from spirulina. You could dust them with tumeric and have yellow funions I suppose… the skies the limit.

Once the onions have been sliced I salt them and mix them thoroughly. This softens them up and mellows them out. I let them sweat while I make the breading.

Get your slice on

Next the breading gets added little by little, mixing it in and coating the onions. Often I’ll end up with left over breading that gets bagged up for the next batch.

Using tongs or my hands, I put the breaded onions directly on dehydrator screens. If you use your hands you must resist the temptation to suck your fingers until you are completely finished. Hold all phone calls and be careful not to wipe your hands on your clothes or the drapes… crack making… er… I mean funion making can get messy if you’re not careful.